As his amulet ceases to glow and closes it's eye again, Professor Rokannon stands staring into the dark, frustrated at the lack of information. What was that thing and why did it attack? Could it have been "the Bird"?
"You filthy creature, just die already!!"
>
Tamarie uses all her training to focus on the target. She inhales and exhales as she slowly pulls back the arrow. She releases it and prays it will find its mark as it arcs upward, into the moonlit sky.
---
As Zander attempts to calm the approaching townsfolk, Tamarie makes one last desperate attack. Loosing her arrow in time with the release of her bated breath, she sees the shaft fly true, lodging itself within the center mass of the foul 'thing-that-should-not-be'...
"'ere now, wot-!!!" the constable calls out in response to Zander's hail, only to be interrupted by the impact of the creature's ichorous mass, striking him across the face & chest in it's precipitous, plummeting, descent. The other constable & townsfolk recoil in fear & revulsion.
"Wait! Don't touch it!" Professor Rokannon called out as he rushed towards the townsfolk.
"Zzzzzzzzzzzzz" Davor chimes in from his supine position on the ground.
"Yes! Thank you uncle, for my extensive training."
Tamarie then looks around, and hearing both the professor and Davor, proceeds to walk towards the latter. She tries to shake him awake, if necessary with a firm slap to his cheek.
---
"Professor, what do we do with this thing?"
---
"Zander and Vivian, can you handle the situation over there?"
Not missing a beat, the redhead answers
Zander is the man of the situation, because love handles.
She chukles and adds to the half elf as she slaps Davor
Nice shot, Tam". But your way of awaking young men from slumber could be nicer...
"We will investigate of course!" Professor Rokannon replied to Tamarie.
Rokannon called his Dancing Lights overhead to light the area.
"Hold still sir." He said to the constable, and he used his staff and Mage Hand to move the corpse off the constable, then uses Prestidigitation to Clean the ichor off of him.
Then he will turn his attention to the corpse of the creature to see what he can learn.
Vivian comes closer to the professor, and kneel besides him
Do you know what this creature is, Professor? I've never seen anything like that in my life. It seems the stuff of nightmare..but so real too at the same time!
As Zander calms the villagers & the disgruntled constable, Kendra & Vivian lead the young girl Lariea back to her family's home a few houses away. Seeing the threat resolved, the Ravengro citizens return to their own homes, some grumbling & looking back over their shoulders but most notably mollified by your actions.
The next morning you are awakened once more by a rapping at the front door. Opening it, you see the two younger priests, Rufio & Ferenk, alongside a significantly calmer Sheriff Caeller. "Beggin' yer pardon, but Father Grimburrow was wantin' two words with you." He states without irony.
"Did Lariea rest easy, Sheriff?" Kendra inquired.
"As I have not heard otherwise, I must conclude so." He replies. "That was well done," he adds, turning to the rest of you. "From what little the Father shared with me, that thing was not something we would want about these parts."
Professor Rokannon is puzzled.
"He wants us to call on him? That seems... puzzling. He evinced no desire to see us ever again, if I recall correctly."
"Bizarre, but maybe he didn't get enough of Vivian?"
Tamarie snickers as she gets her equipment ready.
Vivian walks and hooks arm with Zander
Well, as there was no one specifically named, I guess it was a general "you". And maybe this strange, eerie, not of this world creature you fought last night made Father Grimburrow changing his mind about our request to enter the false crypt.
Pinching Tam's cheek playfully
Jealousy suits you so well, my dear.... Don't be afraid, i'm sure sooner or later a man will tell you two words too. WHAT these two words will be, I let your imagination decide.Hope it will be running wild...
More seriously
The most important thing is not if someone can or cannot have enough of me. The most important thing is that the little girl is now hopefully safe, and your prowess with bows and arrows is to be thanked for that, Tamarie. You dealed the fatal blow. Of course, Professor Rokannon magic and Davor might are not to be forgotten either. Do you think the tomes here or at the temple may help you identify the beast from yesterday, Prof?
Brows arched as he follows the comments between Tamarie & Vivian, Sheriff Caeller answers Zander's musing. "Well, he definitely wants to see brother Davor & sister Vivian, but I got the impression he had some'at tae discuss wi' tha Professor & he'll likely want ta have a word wi' you as well seein' as you an' he have yet ta speak."
"Might as well introduce yourself anyway, Zander. Show your courtesies and what not." Davor suggests. "Maybe he'll know what that thing was last night, too."
Davor rubs his eyes as he prepares to head to the temple, his vision still feeling slightly off from the strange creature's dazzling light display that had rendered him unconscious.
"Tamarie's just lucky I softened it up for her before she brought it down. Good thing, too. I thought for sure it was going to get away."
"As you now know how to get there, I will leave you to it. I want to be certain Lariea is feeling alright. It was a lot to take in at such a young age." Kendra explains as she pulls her shawl around herself & proceeds in the opposite direction from the rest of you.
Nodding in acknowledgement, Ferenk makes his way down the lane toward the bridge & on to the Temple. "Had any of you ever encountered such a...
thing, before?" He inquires. "Antraeus was known to us of course. Poor man, he was a travelling merchant but bandits attacked he & his wife on the road several years ago. We never found her body & he's been...
broken, ever since."
Do you think the tomes here or at the temple may help you identify the beast from yesterday, Prof?
Professor Rokannon replied; "Mm, yes. I had hoped to begin my research this morning, but I believe we should answer the good Father's summons instead. It must be a weighty matter for him to call us to him openly." He eyed the door of the Library before reluctantly turning away.
...but I got the impression he had some'at tae discuss wi' tha Professor...
Professor Rokannon arches an eyebrow, considering the possibilities.
He throws his cloak on and summons his staff to his hand before exiting the house."Had any of you ever encountered such a... thing, before?"
Rokannon took his time lighting his pipe before answering testily.
"I have not. Nor have I ever even heard of such a thing. That is in fact what I was intending to research before receiving this importunate summons." A small dark and stormy cloud of smoke forms over his head.Should I go in my normal travel wear, or should I change into something a bit more refined, and less... armored?
Rokannon looks Zander over with a critical eye.
"My advice is to dress to impress; use whatever clothing of rank and/or status you have."
"Indeed, use your fine garments. Shows him who you are immediately. Let me worry about the travel outfit, since I have no status that is noteworthy, nor the abbility like Vivian to dress to impress."
Vivian's green eyes sparkle with pleasure, as if she had another joke to retort to Tamarie.
She visibly struggles, biting her lips so the words don't escape her mouth.
Finally, she breathes deeply a few times, and says to the half elf girl
You're too harsh with yourself, Tam". Really. You're worth more than you want to tell, and more than you care to show.
The redhead seems to be sincere, this time.She even gives the ranger a caress on the cheek.
"Father Grimburrow will see you as you present yourself, rose-touched. As a servant of your goddess, you would be best served to present yourself as you wish to be seen." Ferenk adds to the others suggestions.
|
”Very well, if you two feel I should dress up for the occasion, I will leave my armor and weaponry behind, and don my Sunday Bests, even though they are nothing special. I am not of a rank within the church to warrant the finest of garb.” Zander then retires to whatever room he’s been using as a bed chamber to strip off his normal traveling wear and returns dressed in ivory colored trousers and tunic, with a belt of braided red, green, and gold cloth and his rainbow hued cloak draped over a shoulder. ”Have to say I feel fairly vulnerable without my armor and glaive, but at least I have my holy symbol. Shelyn will protect me!”
"I'm ready." is everything Tamarie says as she stands near the door, her dagger clearly visible on her hip.
"That mean I don't have to worry about protecting you?" Davor chuckles at Zander's comment. "I'll be sure and keep that in mind."
Davor shakes his head at the notion of changing into fancy clothes for any reason, and joins Tamarie beside the door ready to leave for the temple.
The acolytes & Sheriff Caeller cast mild glances between one another as Zander divests himself of his armor & returns less martially adorned. Once all are ready, you make your way down the lane, across the bridge and then further along the way to another bridge before finally turning North towards the temple visible beyond a few fields & houses.
Once at the temple, you turn to a smaller entryway about the back from the main entrance some of you used yesterday. You notice an underlying & growing scent of decay as you proceed down the hall.
Finally, you come to what must be the temple mortuary, as you see both the corpse of the unfortunate Antraeus as well as a pinned & dissected cadaver of the vile beast that ultimately slew him. Father Grimburrow stands at the head of the table upon which Antraeus lies, his head bowed in prayer. He looks up at your arrival.
Bowing in respect after tracing a spiral over her chest at the sight of the deceased
Most revered Father, you have asked to see us, and so we have come. How may we help the Church?
Eyebrow arched at Vivian's query, father Grimburrow mutters something under his breath.
"I suppose they were busy since then.
"Yesterday," He replies, a lilt of approbation about his voice. "I told professor Rokannon that he & I might have more to speak on, today..."
"Last night," He continues, sighing deeply. "The five of you either precipitated the unfortunate but likely inevitable horrific demise of a benighted soul who has orbited about this community for several years, unresponsive to my pleas...
,
you succeeded in preventing an even greater tragedy. I choose to believe the latter."
Once more, those of you who spoke with the father yesterday have a sense of a man who has fought a holding action against despair for many years, a holding action only.
"Professor, can you tell me what more you & I might have to speak on now?"
"Thank you, Father, for sending the package for Vivian yesterday." Davor interjects. "I fear we'll be needing its contents sooner than we had thought."
Tamarie stands and listens.
Professor Rokannon looked at Father Grimburrow with focus and steepled his hands as he proceeded.
"Several things I think.
The scroll you gave me contained the names of all the prisoners who died in the fire. I would like to discuss why you thought I would need the names of just the prisoners and not everyone who died then.
I also would hope you could explain what you and Professor Lorrimor discussed before he departed to investigate in the Harrowstone ruins.
I also hope that you would discuss with us how Professor Lorrimor really died, as you undoubtedly arranged for the interment of his mortal remains.
I also hope you and I could discuss your acceptance of us recovering the equipment hidden in your graveyard, so we can finish the task Lorrimor started."
Rokannon waited for Grimburrow's response, looking at Grimburrows reaction and wondering if he guessed right.
Though his brows arc at Davor's words, father Grimmburrow makes no response, listening to each of professor Rokannon's points in turn before replying to the earlier query.
"I sent no package. I understand that sister Deberth purchased some vials of consecrated water," at which he briefly directs his attention to Vivian, "Likely an appropriate precaution my dear."
Having addressed that inquiry, father Grimburrow directs his attention once more to professor Rokannon.
"Petros & I discussed a great number of things before he died..."
"His hopes for his daughter, her future, her well-being; the possibility of grandchildren...
while he was still here to be part of their lives."
"All those conversations were likely of little interest to you I suspect, which is just as well as they were private conversations & would be little more than the maudlin reminiscences of an old, tired man now."
His gaze sharpening, father Grimburrow straightens from his previously imperceptible slouch. " are doubtless referring to his fears regarding this 'Whispering Way' nonsense..."
At that, he falters, continuing. "Perhaps, not nonsense now..."
"I attempted to dissuade Petros in our last conversation. They are dangerous, deluded fanatics...
Some of the worst, most depraved worshipers of the pallid princess it has ever been my displeasure to learn of."
Sighing, his eyes liquid in remembrance, father Grimburrow continues. "Our last conversation was an argument, as it happens. I tried to...
to forbid him from continuing his investigations. Perhaps if I had been less forceful, more persuasive...
He might have listened, might still be alive..."
With all the effort of a man pulling himself once more from a much reviewed, painful reminiscence, father Grimburrow elaborates. "You want to know the particulars of his death? His head was crushed by falling masonry within the grounds of Harrowstone, the outer yard to be precise. The structure itself is rumoured to be haunted, rumors I have reason to suspect are...
insufficient."
"As to why the list I gave you only contained the names of those prisoners who died in the fire...
That was the list Petros asked for, what reason would I have to suspect you wanted more than I gave him?"
Sighs
So much happened in only one day...It seems to me a week has already past away! I'm sorry...
Vivian seems thoughtful
Correct me if I'm wrong,Father Grimburrow, and i'm sorry because I got a lot of questions to ask...The Harrowstone Memorial gives the list of all the guards who died in the fire? So with this list of prisoners, we know everyone who died on that day, or night?
Looking at the corpse of Antraeus with mild interest
*Not the first time i see a dead body, unfortunatly*
It seems that the Professor was really interested in the prison, interested enough so he would take risks to get a closer view. And as far as you know, he didnt manage to enter the place, beause some falling masonry killed him. It's not the first time we hear rumors that the prison is haunted, could you explain us, as the senior priest, your point of view of why the rumors are insufficient?
After a short pause, and a silent prayer to the Lady of the Graves ending in another spiral sign over her chest, the redhead continues, her green eyes focused on the corpse
Not that I believe than the prison itself aimed at the poor professor's head, or that a ghost threw a piece of stone at him. I suspect someone-maybe a wicked Whispering Way worshipper- killed the professor and tried to make it look like an accident. I am not able to focus my faith in Pharasma into miracles, but I've seen priest in my mother's temple curing people by holy magic. Could a miracle be used to communicate with the deceased, be it the late Professor or the yet-to-be proven ghosts of Harrowstone- If Pharasma allow someone to awake them from their rest? I'm not trying to tell we should disturb the Professor's tomb, Father, but would I be right if I was supposing than injuring the head of someone you kill would prevent such use of magic?Something necromancers and blasphemous servants of the Pallid Princess would surely know...
And to end that flow of questions,if we enter the prison, how could we fight ghosts, and how to protect ourselves from their attacks? I'm afraid that in my younger years I haven't always listened to the wise but long lessons in Theology of Father Herebert,especially on sunny days, and i've might have skipped some paragraphs on the subject of the restless dead. We all have regrets, we all wish we have done a few things differently.It's not possible, most of the time. But with the help of memories,we can try to do things differently from now on, and to do our best to catch on our past mistakes.That's what my mother used to say to me when I did something wrong.Meaning she told me that everyday.
The young woman gives a gentle smile to the old priest, and even pats his hand, her green eyes sparkling. Behind the final joke, there is more wisdom than it seems, and maybe a bonding sense for people that spend their lives surrounded by Death, doing what needs to be done.
"Our last conversation was an argument, as it happens. I tried to... to forbid him from continuing his investigations. Perhaps if I had been less forceful, more persuasive...
He might have listened, might still be alive..."
Professor Rokannon smiled at this and shook his head.
"In that at least I can put you at rest. I learned early in our association that he would not be dissuaded from pursuing a line of inqiry. By anything.""You want to know the particulars of his death? His head was crushed by falling masonry within the grounds of Harrowstone, the outer yard to be precise."
Rokannon bowed his head at this and sighed.
"Remarkable. What are the odds? That, in the midst of an investigation he should receive a fatal injury that (if I recall correctly, as this is not my field) prevents either Raise Dead or Speak with Dead?""The structure itself is rumoured to be haunted, rumors I have reason to suspect are... insufficient."
Rokannon shook his head.
"No rumor at all. He wrote of encountering such forces in a previous trip there." He looked directly at the good Father."That is another reason to go get the cache left for just such a scenario."
"As to why the list I gave you only contained the names of those prisoners who died in the fire... That was the list Petros asked for..."
Rokannon leaned forward, looking interested.
"Well now, that is an interesting thing. Why just the prisoners do you think?"
"Because all any resident of Ravengro would need to do to know all the other victims of the fire, would be to visit the memorial. Their names are engraved on the base." Father Grimburrow replies to Professor Rokannon's query. His expression shifts slightly with the revelation of his friend's implacability but reveals little slackening of grief. At the professor's cynical observations regarding the specifics of Petros Lorrimor's demise, the father's brows lower as he glares back at professor Rokannon. "Another reason I had no desire that he investigate the ruins, particularly alone!"
"The...
probability of such a death is not so unlikely as you might wish to believe. The masonry of the structure is unsound. What would you expect from an edifice devastated by fire & decades of neglect?"
Sighing heavily, he nods in acquiescence before any of you can interject. "However, my suspicions mirror yours to a great degree," Eyes narrowing as he straightens once more. ", unlike myself you," as he locks gazes with each of you present in turn, "have youth, health & vigor..."
"A vigor that might carry you through."
"Brother Rufio," He turns to the second, silent acolyte. "You will accompany brother Davor & Sister Vivian...
and whichever of these others they choose to assist you in investigating this...
hidden cache,
they claim resides within the Restlands."
"," pointing to Davor, "will acknowledge brother Rufio's experience & if he determines there is evidence to support this claim, you will leave the crypt & it's occupants in peace. Do you understand?"
"Absolutely, Father. I agree it wouldn't do to disturb the dead in their resting place if it turns out the crypt is not a false one as Professor Lorrimor described. Thank you."
Let's just hope the Professor was right about this crypt being empty.
'I see now just how ill prepared I was when I last set out for Harrowstone. I am lucky to have returned at all. The ghosts, if indeed they were ghosts (for I did not find it prudent to investigate further) prevented me from transcribing the strange symbols I found etched along the foundation-hopefully on my next visit I will be more prepared.
Thankfully, the necessary tools to defend against spirits are already here in Ravengro. I know that the church of Pharasma used to store them in a false crypt in the Restlands at the intersection between Eversleep and the Black Path. I am not certain if the current clergy even know of what their predecessors have hidden down below. If my fortunes hold, I should be able to slip in & out with a few borrowed items.'
Nodding in acknowledgment of his superior's directive, brother Rufio leads you out the hall & back to the exterior doorway. "Sooner begun, sooner ended." He begins, his brows arched inquisitively. "If you have no objections, we can at least see if there is any moment to this contention." As he makes his way North toward the Restlands.
Wait, Brother Rufio, may I catch up with you in the Restlands later? I need to get back to Kendra's place first to pick up my stuff. And maybe Zander would be happy to get back in his armor too... We don't know what to expect, and there is no reason to take unnecessary risks. We'll be as quick as possible.